The Comedy World Is (Finally) Coming Out Against Cosby

It’s been more than three months since Hannibal Buress called Bill Cosby a rapist during a stand-up show in Philadelphia, the moment that finally put longstanding allegations of sexual abuse against the 77-year-old comedian into the spotlight. After an overwhelming number of women then came forward (35 and counting, per Larry Wilmore), journalists began publishing mea culpas for ignoring the claims, Netflix postponed Cosby’s upcoming special, and NBC canceled a planned sitcom with the comic.

Meanwhile, with the exception of Judd Apatow, who was accused of being “strangely obsessive” about the allegations on Twitter by Black-ish creator Kenya Barris, the comedy world remained largely silent. Many of our most celebrated comics, including Louis C.K. and Jerry Seinfeld, had publicly held Cosby on a pedestal for decades, and most of them avoided even commenting on the recent headlines. As recently as December, Chris Rock struggled to come up with a definitive point of view in his widely read interview in New York: “I don’t know what to say,” he said. “What do you say? I hope it’s not true. That’s all you can say. I really do. I grew up on Cosby. I love Cosby, and I just hope it’s not true.”

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But if the past few weeks are any indication, all of this might be changing. “It’s unusual for a comedian to go after another comedian,” said Jimmy Kimmel, stating the obvious during an interview with Bill Maher on his late-night show on January 7. The Real Time host admitted he’s one of the few comics who never really thought Cosby was funny—although he certainly provided a wealth of material for Maher. “People say he deserves his day in court. Do we have enough time? ‘May the defense present accuser number 465? And then the stenographer would like to say a few words ’cause she was groped on the way in,’ ” he cracked, while Kimmel laughed along. Later on, in a more serious note, Maher summed up how most of the public feels. “I think we should be very careful about accusations, but when there is this much smoke, there has got to be a fire somewhere.”

Then, instead of shying away from the controversy during his first week on air, Wilmore dedicated Tuesday’s entire episode of The Nightly Show to the Cosby rape allegations. In the same frank, candid tone he set in his debut, Wilmore denounced Cosby within the first few seconds of his monologue: “We’ll answer the question, did he do it? The answer will be yes. . . . There’s a statute of limitations on the charges, but there’s no statute of limitations on my opinion, and I’m telling you, that motherfucker did it.”

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On Wednesday came Jay Leno’s take during an interview onstage at the National Association of Television Program Executives in Miami, where he addressed the public’s incredulity. “I don’t know why it’s so hard to believe women,” Leno said. “You go to Saudi Arabia and you need two women to testify against a man. Here you need 25.” (Actually, Jay, you might need at least ten more.)

Meanwhile, Apatow hammered away in an episode of WTF with Marc Maronlast week, lambasting Cosby for continuing to perform stand-up—and audiences for continuing to buy tickets. “One thing that I do know is I’m not comfortable with him running around the country doing stand-up like nothing’s happening,” he said. “I absolutely would like to see him in jail. That’s where people who commit sexual assaults go.”

There seems to be a trend, so perhaps it won’t be long before Louis C.K. makes Cosby the butt of one of his signature uncomfortable-because-it’s-true jokes onstage. Here’s hoping he gets the memo before his upcoming Madison Square Garden performances.